Can an Injection Cure Joint Pain?

By The Doctors Staff on 7:00 AM PDT, April 18, 2017

PlayingInjection Cures Joint Pain?

A tennis pro sidelined by joint pain hopes that a new treatment can get him back on the court.

Paul’s rigorous athletic life, involving hours of tennis, running, and weight work, has kept him in great shape – but it’s also taken a toll on his joints. “I’ve had chronic pain since my mid-20s,” he admits. He has degeneration in both hips, arthritis, bone spurs, and cysts around both hip joints. He’s very stiff and even getting out of a chair is tough for him.

Physiatrist Dr. Sammy Masri has a treatment that may spare Paul from hip-replacement surgery. “He wanted something that’s less aggressive,” Dr. Masri explains. APIC-A2M treats patients with their own plasma and stem cells to fight joint inflammation – relief may last as much as a year.

Paul and Dr. Masri join The Doctors a few weeks after the injection. Paul says his pain is completely gone – and it disappeared immediately!

Dr. Masri explains that A2M uses anti-inflammatory particles from the patient’s own blood, injected into the arthritic joint to reduce the inflammation. “It could be used anywhere in the body that there’s inflammation,” he says, “but it’s mainly done for joints, like shoulder and hip joints.”

Plastic Surgeon Dr. Travis Stork wonders how this compares to PRP, which uses hyaluronic acid to increase joint lubrication. Dr. Masri says that that’s still a great treatment that encourages tissue regeneration, but A2M is outstanding to fight inflammation in particular.